Oh yea? if you want to do some metal detecting let me know, I'll tell you now you need a permit to hunt in the parks of San antonio here is all the information City of San Antonio | Official Web Site - Parks & Recreation Department your best bet would be to scan it and email it in i got it back with in a day or i know some areas that dont require a permit. let me know man im free on saturday.

We have the same written rules in Maryland ( My area ) and I believe the parks in & around the Baltimore area actully have a permit system in place..
Anyways, I called the person that runs the City Parks here and they said Metal Detecting is allowed as long as you fill in your holes...
Which ofcourse I do... And i haven't ran into any problems yet...
So i would call them because alot of the digging laws are blanket laws preventing people from digging big holes where someone could fall into and get hurt...

It's like this: Noise ordinance laws. There are probably loud noises all the time during the night, that technically exceed noise decibal limits, right? Yet the police don't take notice unless there is a complaint. So you might say, there's no violation, unless someone's there to take offense (ie.: complain about noise). So too, in my opinion, is metal detecting sort of like this.

To carry the illustration further: if you were to walk in to city hall, and ask if you can run your leaf blower in the industrial district of town after 10pm, you will probably get someone to look up your "pressing question" in their rules book, and tell you "no you can't run it". So the "technical" answer was no, while the reality of the situation is, that there was probably going to be no one there to care or complain, as it's not in a residential district. Unless you are a nuisance and playing that same stereo or backpack blower in outside someone's window at 2am, then sure: the police get called, they bring out the decibal meter, and so forth.

It's the same logic for these digging/disturbing laws, in my opinion. If you are not getting complaints (because you are neat, discreet in timing, and and don't stick out like a sore thumb) and thus don't generate any interest, who's being harmed?

You're going to get someone in big trouble with your advice/opinions and game of semantics with the words of the law / laws you know nothing about Tom. For example, according to your thinking, if someone kills a person and nobody complains about it you might say, according to you, there was no violation Every time someone puts up a post asking about a law or permission you're sure to come along at some point and instead of being helpful all you do is make a fool of yourself and pile on the

Hey Darth Walker, here is some contact info for a local club in San Antonio you can contact for help.
City: San Antonio
Club: San Antonio Area Metal Detector Club
Phone: 210-923-3832
Email: donc@1price.net
Website:
Club Information:

You're going to get someone in big trouble with your advice/opinions and game of semantics with the words of the law / laws you know nothing about Tom. For example, according to your thinking, if someone kills a person and nobody complains about it you might say, according to you, there was no violation Every time someone puts up a post asking about a law or permission you're sure to come along at some point and instead of being helpful all you do is make a fool of yourself and pile on the

Hey Darth Walker, here is some contact info for a local club in San Antonio you can contact for help.
City: San Antonio
Club: San Antonio Area Metal Detector Club
Phone: 210-923-3832
Email: donc@1price.net
Website:
Club Information:

Treasure-digger-NY, Do you see any difference between murder and metal detecting? (Think real hard now). People detect all the time, in a myriad of non-illegal ways (even you perhaps??). Yet people do not murder all the time. And there is no legal way to murder at any time. Think real hard.

And you're right: those persons who operate equipment that exceeds the noise-decibal limit, yet don't get complaints, are STILL violating the noise-decibal limit law. No doubt about it. Even if no one is there to care, to get the decibal measuring equipment out, etc.... technically, sure, ....... Thus if I was you, if you want to "start down that road", there's not a single place you hunt, where you are not running afoul of some law. If you doubt me, tell me where you hunt, what you keep, etc.... and I will find a law that you are breaking. If you have "permission" from some city somewhere, I bet I can just-as-simply get that revoked. All I need to do is go into that city and ask the city's lawyer: "Is it right that treasure-digger enriches himself at the city's expense? Shouldn't those historical items be in the city museum for all to enjoy?" Or talk to the IRS, or inquire if you are breaking J.U.L.I.E. laws, etc... Now obviously treasure-digger, that is all SILLY (and of course, I wouldn't do it). BUT THAT'S JUST the point, is that.... yes... some of it IS silly and IS employed on an as-needed basis, and that ..... yes.... there are some busy-bodies who we just should avoid.

Hello, I usually post in the Coin Roll Hunting Forum but I plan to get a metal detector.

I searched in my area and the City allows metal detecting in some parks but the rules say that they do not allow any digging instruments of any kind. So my question is if they expect you to dig with your hands or what? My City is San Antonio Texas. Any one here familiar with this City?

Thanks

I hunt in a big local park that does not allow digging of any kind. Their reason for this is the fact that they have a major irrigation system in the big grassy areas used for festivals and concerts (The same area where I find tons of money and a good amount of jewelry). As far as I can tell, this irrigation system is buried pretty deep, but I still respect these rules and never dig.

Probably 95% of everything I have found in this park was less than 3" deep (The park is only 20 years old at the most). I use a Garret brand brass probe (Garrett Brass Treasure Probe | eBay), and a Phillips screw driver to pop most targets out of the ground. Using an AT Pro and my Propointer, I rarely dig plugs or holes anywhere unless it is a very deep target.

The brass probe doesn't seem to damage anything, but the Phillips screwdriver could. I need to find a brass tipped probe, with a steel shank to pop objects out.

The most important thing you can learn or do when metal detecting is replace everything exactly the was it was. I mean leave no trace of you being there. I was chased out of a park by a park supt because some other idiot dug and left a mess and what plugs he did put back the grass died. I apologized to the guy and told him I had already dug over 200 holes in that park and left no trace and he said i know but i have to stop you because the city just passed an ordinance against metal detecting in our parks. He said I watched you for a cpl of days wasn't going to say anything but we had a citizens complaint so you will have to leave.

I have even seen videos on u-tube where so called expert metal detector guys actually leave a mess.

A screwdriver or some other type of probe works well with shallow coins but any more than say an inch you have to cut a plug and i mean neatly cut a 3 sided plug and roll it back find your coin and then fill and tamp the soil and roll your plug back and tamp it well too

I say play by the rules as best you can and someone stops you apologize and be polite about it.